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| Timestamp | Since previous | Game | JorgeGameDev's comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7 03:25:20 | Dream Roamers | ♥ 1 | From the descriptions and the screenshots, I went in expecting a very _Binding of Isaac_-like experience and inspired game, as you cited in the description that you were inspired by other games of the rogue-like genre. What I found instead was a very neat rogue-like with it's very own set of original ideas! The idea of your ammo (spirit energy) depleting as you fight enemies, and having to collect their drops to restore it was genuinely a new take on the formula for me. An entire room generation system seems like one big undertaking for a compo game, but it was definitely interesting seeing a completely different layout in the three runs I did of the game (one of which I lost)! So as a programmer, I really have to give you kudos for that. Graphics and Audio were simple, but they also had they're very own charm to it given the setting. It was also nice to see some backstory at the beginning of the game! If I had to point my only single problem with this game is how fast the 'bomb' enemies are. My first run was lost because I ran into one and had no time to react as he collided with me by one of the room's doors. I almost lost my second run for the very same reason, only this time, the room had three of those baddies on it. Some extra reaction time for those would have been great. π£ Also, as @Moski mentioned, that Borderland's 2 quote when you lose a run was spot on. Glad to have meet up with you over at GDN, and seriously hope you make it through the judging phase! Thanks a lot for the experience, and once again, on behalf of our team, we'll looking forward for what you create next! π³ | |
| Dec 7 04:14:30 | 49m 10s | Ghosth - Annoying Ghosts | ♥ 2 | 2017-12-07 03H51M46.png That was an amazing and really polished experience! I firstly saw this game over on the _Danger_ category, and when I opened to see the screenshots of the game I was flabbergasted how an experience like this hadn't gotten enough votes to pass by judging yet! (Gladly, that has changed since). First off, and I believe this is going to be everyone who play's the game first highpoint, but the whole art and sprite work is fantastic! Everything was just so poppy and balanced in terms of colours, together with the backdrop with all the touches and details here and there really made it shine in that department. Everything that needed to stand out did so, and everything was readable at first. However, where the game really shined in was in it's platforming twists and variation on the platformer mechanics through the ghosts buddies. When I grabbed my first ghost and realized I could use them both as a way to gain an additional jump as well as throw them to turn on switches, I knew I was in for something different and great, and it was definitely great alright. The room layouts themselves also served as great small tutorials, which, reading from the comments above, was one of your priorities to get right when designing the game. However, as @antti-haavikko mentioned, there were definitely some problems with the pacing and layouts. The part where I re-spawned the most was the chained balls stairs and the ghost platforming segment. For me, I wouldn't say it was because of the hitboxes of the balls themselves, but just because of how close everything was to each other, which lead to situations where I'd just be trying to climb down the stairs and would get hit by one of them accidently. Same thing happened in the climbing segment. The first time I got there, I just tried to ghost-jump my way up, only to be hit by another chained ball and having to repeat the whole process again. By the time I got to the top and saw one of the secret crystals (which I got a total of three out of five as shown in the screenshot above) I personally though about giving up on it and just carrying in, but alas, my completionist self eventually came back and was able to do whole process once more. Other than those level layout issues, I don't see anywhere else where the game falls short. It was pretty, polished, and totally fun during my playthrough of it. The personally of the ghosts paired together with them sometimes crippling in front your view definitely gave them a lot of character and personality! π» The music was also great and the distortion that happens to it when you get just too many ghosts was also a neat touch! Obrigado pela a Γ³tima experiΓͺncia! I'd definitely come back and try to see if I can get all of the extra crystals. On behalf of my team over at [Whales And Games](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), we definitely look forward to seeing more work from you and I'll definitely be waiting to play that post-jam updated version! π³ |
| Dec 9 02:42:21 | 46h 27m | Mistral - Wave-based Survival Retro Game | ♥ 0 | 2017-12-09 02H30M44.png Finally got around to playing your entry! And whew, what an entry. My first impressions were feelings of overwhelming-ness. When I first started the game and collected the first coin, I immediately felt like there was a lot happening at the same time before I was able to grasp everything that was going on, and it felt over-the-top fast-paced. Overall, it felt like the gameplay was really harsh on me. Hitting skeletons with the arrows wasn't a problem at all, and it felt really responsive with the whole juice with the screen-shake giving a real feel of accomplishment. It was hitting the birds that really felt out of my control and very luck based. Most of the time that I'd try to hit them, they'd move and I would end up falling on top of them, hitting another enemy on the way, and being pushed out of the screen into an instant game-over. That being said, with a _small slowdown_ I can see this being a very neat experience, especially with the screenshake and all the other juice involved. Like my colleague, @moski, mentioned above the coins could have had a more significative impact in the game, although that's probably more a fault of mine for already having the concept of coins being used as a currency hard-coded into my mind. π° The graphics and audio were also really nice and it was overall very nicely packaged, it just felt like an experience that, sadly, I couldn't keep up with. Obrigado pela a experiΓͺncia, e espero ver mais de vocΓͺs no futuro! π |
| Dec 9 04:30:01 | 1h 47m | Melody : Burden of Sorrow | ♥ 0 | 2017-12-09 03H01M06.png Now that was a very nice and overall nicely wrapped experience! An overall polished and juiced up platformer with responsive controls is right up my ally. It was also a nicely paced out especially when compared to other games I have played on here during this judging period, taking me some well twenty minutes to finish. The tittle screen and the overall artwork was also pretty great, and the whole overall theming of losing powers as you went certainly spiced things up (as well as having to do the whole game once more in reverse). The music wasn't the most extraordinary thing ever, but since each level had it's own loop, I still applaud all the work that went there. As I've mentioned previously the controls were really nice and tight, but at certain points after the tutorial phase, I kept forgetting that I had some stuff at my disposal that I didn't remember given how few they were used outside of the levels that required them. For example, only on the third section (right after you lose double jumping) when I found myself stuck in a section was when I remembered I had the fireball ability at my disposal, because previously I had barely used it at that point. The same thing with the dashing. If the levels could have been more designed across all the abilities you had until a certain point, rather than focusing on a single one I think those types of situations wouldn't have been as remember-able as they are with me writing this feedback here. Another thing that previous commenters on this game have also written is that there's certainly a big focus on wall-jumping that's probably a bit tad overdone. This also connects with what I mentioned previously, and that specific ability could have been spread out more rather than used all over the game. Some sections (like the last phase, for example) also felt alienating with the sudden jump in difficulty, reminding me just a bit of Kazio Mario. My only complaint on regards to the graphics was the fonts. They felt slightly unreadable in full-screen and the credits screen actually had the text cut off (at least in 16:9). In the other hand, the whole gameplay view and experience was actually much more comfy when playing in full-screen than in windowed, with the sprites and viewports being just the right size (which I can see why it could be a problem for those playing in window mode). Finally, did the green gems and and the big purple gem serve any purpose? I didn't notice but they didn't seem to recover health and I was expecting some kind of small surprise by collecting the purple gem because I was definitely surprised when I bumped against it on accident. π If they didn't do anything in this version, I certainly hope to see them doing something in a future version! Overall, I hope my feedback doesn't sound too negative. This was really a very nice experience and [in behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), I look forward to seeing more from you. Keep up the good work! π³ |
| Dec 9 05:24:45 | 54m 44s | Fatmans Fortune | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-09 05H13M36.png Simple, easy to understand, and hilarious to the point it left me with a grin on my face even when writing this review! That was a short, but refreshing experience overall. I didn't know what to expect when I got into it, but from the moment I started seeing all the different characters from the sky and understood the simplicity of the game, I knew I was in for a treat. As others before me have mentioned, it would have been nice to have seen some variation with the difficulty curve over time as to keep the experience even fresher as it went a long, but even so, I found myself frequently having Marcus catapulted by being too off-guard in regards to one of the boat's sides. Graphics and Audio were also pretty neat, although after a few plays, the loop got a bit tad repetitive, but that's something you'll probably keep improving on. I wonder if Marcus will ever be the same after being on a boat with a huge-man, a gorilla and a alien that felt from the sky... [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), congratulations on this compo entry, and we expect to see more from you in the future! π³ |
| Dec 9 21:44:10 | 16h 19m | Honey Money | ♥ 4 | 2017-12-09 21H27M30.png That was a very quirk, funny and interesting take on stealth... robbing! I really liked the experience you guys set up here, from the original gameplay to the cute graphics and fitting audio. The gameplay was very easy to understand, the controls working with a controller were also a much welcome addition! The networked scores were also a very nice touch too, and I personally got the 6th place at the time of writing this. π° Although, despite the very simple gameplay and controls, the one mechanic that left me a bit head-scratching was how the hiding worked. At first I thought it could have been a small music issue because I wasn't being followed by anyone and the high-beat music still continued, but later as I played more and more I found myself start being chased by dogs and guards almost in the opposite side of the street and getting caught in the process. This adds up with the guards and random movement patterns. They definitely spiced things up and made it a rough-like experience, but while attempting to escape sometimes, I would find myself stuck between a wall and a guard, or bump into a dog I didn't expect to see in that specific zone. I feel some level design changes could have made these issues much less recurrent. But again, regardless of this harsher feedback I really liked the game here! Although that's one very needy girlfriend though if I must say so myself, at least based on the first ring I gave her. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), thank you for this great robbing experience, and we expect to see more from you in the future (although I see you already have quite the _Ludum Dare_ experience!) π³ Remember kids, get someone that loves you by who you are and not by the ring you get them! π |
| Dec 9 22:44:00 | 59m 50s | Infernus: The Descent | ♥ 4 | 2017-12-09 22H20M47.png This was definitely different from what I've played and judged on this _Ludum Dare_ so far, that's for sure! However, differently to some reactions I've seen before, I believe if someone wants to do a non-safe for work game for a game jam that's mostly made up of safe for work games, they should have the creative liberty to do so, and for that, I say kudos to your team! π Now, in regards to the experience itself, it was actually really nice. For a game made in three days, there were definitely a lot of points with depth, from the equipment options, to having to mix-and-match attacks to make sure you didn't fall in hell, to the progressive storyline and the whole succubus themes were engaging. The art style was also pretty interesting and the amount of artwork involved was also surprising. However, despite all the ideas, it felt like there was a lot added in already with the plans for expansion at mind, which isn't a bad thing, of course, but it would have been nice to see a more core focus of the experience developed during the _Ludum Dare_ period. There were a lot of ideas and systems here and there but I personally think it would have been better to just focus on just a small group of mechanics and try to add as much depth to it as possible. Instead, a lot of the gameplay felt shallow than and I honestly that could have been performed better, especially with the latter parts of the game starting to feel repetitive and grind-y as another comment has mentioned above. It would have been nice to have some sort of sound behind as well, even if it were just simple loops or audio cues. However, despite this harsher feedback, I insist, I enjoyed the experience, and the lewd part of it was luring. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), I once again applaud your choice to going through with the adult theming, and will definitely keep up with the hellish succubus shenanigans you guys come up with next. Cheers! π³ |
| Dec 10 03:00:15 | 4h 16m | Duck Guardian | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-10 02H41M18.jpg My friends always ask me why I carry a Rubber Duck with me every single day. I was never able to explain them properly why. Was it because I'm a programmer and feel the need to carry a Rubber Duck? Was it the satisfaction of squeaky noises left by the toy? Or was it simply love at first sight? For all of those questions, I feel like this game right here pretty much defines all of the charm there is with Rubber Ducks. I had a whale of a time with it and let me tell you that this is one amazing and quite impressive _Compo_ entry! Everything, from the gameplay, to the graphics and even the audio felt top-notch and carefully crafted. The only smaller issue that I can really point out is, like other comments have said, that you can use the _Quacking_ ability to an insane level and pretty much make a agglomerate of ducks. Maybe, under all those ducks, an even more powerful duck is rising? Who knows. I did get up to 2500 points thanks to it though. As a suggestion for the future in case you plan to do a post-compo version, I'd suggest increasing the difficulty curve of the game a bit more beyond simply adding a cool down for the quacking. Maybe make it so the circle moves around the sink as you get into later levels, forcing you to manage your movement and the position of the ducks together with you? Just a suggestion, as I've really had a great time with it and can't think of anything more to perfect the formula! [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), the only thing I can really say is... QUACKERS! Thank you for this duck-filled experience! π¦ |
| Dec 10 04:00:29 | 1h 00m | Paparazzi | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-10 03H09M44.png I guess your tittle of _Rithm Gaming_ really doesn't lie because on the latter levels, I was really micro-managing all the keys and mouse clicks I had to make to be sure I completed the game! This was a really pleasant surprise and a gameplay gem, especially for a _Compo_ game! It started off simple and comfortable, but it definitely didn't hold back as the different levels started flowing in (which, by the way, were a very nice addition). Overall the gameplay was really really engaging! The audio and presentation were also very nice, and the level select with the alternate gender options was also a neat touch. I found my self swapping frequently to keep the character I was playing as fresh. Not very frequently you see _Compo_ games with this level of polish, but in this case, it felt ever present. Thank you for this rhythmic experience, and [in behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), we look forward to see what you create next! π³ |
| Dec 10 05:15:23 | 1h 14m | Sum of Its Parts | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-10 04H51M18.png First off, I have to start with a thank you for streaming our game! However, I am here to comment on your game instead of mine, so let's get to it! First off, I have to say that this was a neat experience with a lot of good ideas ideas at it's core that, with just a little more refinement and fixing, could definitely make up an even better and interesting concept. The audio was a great touch and you can feel the overall game had a lot of effort put into it. However, it also goes without saying that it also got a few aspects where it felt a bit short. For starts, the ship felt a little too heavy to control, even without the extra parts that make controlling it worse (as its expected from the theme). I felt it took quite the time to align the rotation perfectly with the cannons that we're attempting to hit me in order to hit them back, and most of the times I would just get blown up before I could even aim at them properly. If I was going to suggest an improvement, I'd say to have the folded ship rotate at instantaneous speed, whilst having the unfolded ship turn slowly depending on the number of parts you got. This would reward your reflexes at folding and unfolding, while punishing the player from trying to use all the power at their disposal. One aspect that, for me, didn't sell the theme on the game as much as it could was exactly the piece removal mechanic on the main room. I understand why it was put there, and how else the game would be practically impossible, but it also felt like I was doing a cop-out from how the theme was supposed to be experienced, especially when I already had the folding mechanic. I think the theme's execution would have been flawless if you were forced to keep all the pieces with you, and having you think the best order as to collect them. Of course, enemy placement and spawning would also have to be tweaked to assure that the player wouldn't be hit no matter what they tried to do. Then, there's the other small technical issues, but it seems like you already got those pinned down yourself. π€ I re-iterate that the game was a really nice and really sticking-to-the-theme idea and even with it's flaws, I still enjoyed it immensely, special that final section after you leave the roomed layout. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), I look forward to experiencing the game again post-jam with all the issues you have down fixed and once again, thank you for your feedback you gave on the stream in regards to our game! π³ |
| Dec 11 00:52:01 | 19h 36m | A Platformer for Ants | ♥ 1 | A Platformer for Ants Now that was a really nice and clever gimmick! It was definitely a very familiar platformer in terms of controls, but the whole camera reducing size as it went made it mush fresher and fun to play. The idea of the checkpoint flags being used as both checkpoints and as a way to reset your camera view was also really spot-on, and I loved the touch how they were always in extra challenging rooms to make you question if you wanted to risk getting to the flag or not. Overall, I really liked it and the only thing that made me feel kind of sad was due to how short it was. π I'd love to see this idea further expanded and improved upon on (which, given from your comments above is something you already have in mind)! I can definitely see several ways that this mechanic could be used for all sorts of different puzzles and perspectives, and would really like to see it take off. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), I must congratulate you for the really cleaver gimmick (and fellow _Newgrounds_ feature too!). I will definitely look forward for the future version of this game if you decide to push it forward, which I think you definitely should! π³ |
| Dec 11 02:28:57 | 1h 36m | Magus O-Minus | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-11 01H48M44.png For me, this game right here was all about the *Mood*, and at this point in time, based on the games I have rated so far, it's definitely the strongest entry I've seen in terms of it. It was a profound experience that made me seriously take into consideration my health more than I think I've did in practically every other game, and the whole heavy setting, from the visuals, to the audio, to constantly seeing I had failed a villager from the start of the game made this a very solid playthrough all the way through. As I've mentioned, the whole setup from the graphics to the audio was really well done, and the gameplay was as polished and as demanding as one could expect. At a certain point, I was legitimately preoccupied in understanding the enemies attacks as to make sure I could avoid them as much possible in order to conserve health to give the villagers. That on itself, also tells a lot of this game in specific. If there's one thing that I have to critique is that the game started feeling repetitive after a while, and that some of the latter sections could have been shortened down. The impact still carried with me all the way through the end, but with the latter section lasting multiple rooms with not as much sense of progress as the beginning, I felt like some of the gameplay (plus visuals and audio) started to wear out much more. Gladly, given how well the mood was executed the game was it really didn't impact as much by the end as I thought it could, and everything else, as I've mentioned, was really there! [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), I must re-iterate once again that this was the game that got perfect _Mood_ for me, and I really look forward for the stuff that you create next! Thank you for this absolutely amazing _Compo_ entry and experience! π³ |
| Dec 13 03:38:01 | 49h 09m | Vermin | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-13 03H13M52.png Now, this was a completely different and clever type of experience than the one I was expecting. The concept of being the king in-control of a hoard of vermin and being responsible for their survival is definitely an interesting take on the theme, and one that made a very different experience. Never thought commanding rats around would be something I'd be doing anytime soon. π The gameplay was pretty fun, although the only thing I didn't really seem to get at all was really the follower's behaviour. For most part, it seemed like a group of mice would follow me closer than others if I accelerated, while others would have a more noisy and random movement pattern. I didn't feel like I was in control sometimes, and even if that lack of the control was part of the theme here, it put me into questioning if at a certain point I couldn't just get a game over because all of the mice would just decide to run into a building. However, reading the other comments, it seems that understanding the movement comes with practice, although, to be honest, even after a few playthroughs, I really couldn't figure out most of the ways they moved. I also felt slightly confused in regards to what the different icons over each of the mice's head meant. Some of them were easy to figure out, such as when the mice were hungry, or when their speed was increased, but some like the... vampire teeth? and the power icon weren't as obvious for me as despite the intention. I can assume what they probably do, but I didn't really get to a point where I was able to clearly be sure of it. I found the game to be quite pleasing when it came to the graphics and the audio. Everything in terms of graphics really popped out and there was a really humorous (and disturbing) tone with running over the humans and proceeding to get a nutritious meal out of them. Presentation was really a forte in this one. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), thank you for this mousy and funny experience, but I personally think I'm going to keep sticking it to whales. Thank you! π³ |
| Dec 13 04:56:44 | 1h 18m | Feature Creep | ♥ 3 | 2017-12-13 03H47M19.png Finally, after post-pone-ing playing your game until I was sure I could give it the proper feedback I finally got around to doing it. That being said, it's finally time to get on with it. π I'm pretty sure @moski will also be proud that I finally decided to give my whale-pals some feedback after making him play the game for me the first time. π The first thing I have to say is that the whole thing was an overall great experience, and a fun one at that too, especially as I got to see all the different content get constantly added in. Every new feature had me thinking what would be next thing to be added to the world, was it a new mechanic, gag, or simply a new currency. The dialog and interactions between the narrator and the player were also very well written and humorous. I can tell one of you knocked a ball out of the park getting as many potential references into the text as possible. π€ The final features added into the game, including the ending, were also a great touch and a nice way to close it off. One impression that I got was that some of the early actions and achievements seemed like they got desynchronized. For example, I got the achievement explaining me how to use the katana, but I only got the katana (as the narrator itself said) on the add feature after the one that triggered the achievement. Same-wise, for latter texts (before the whole final section of the game) there also seemed to be situations where the text seemed to disappear either too early or not render at all, although could also only have been my impression due to how distracted I was with all the mechanics and flavour features that you guys added in. It'd would also have been nice to have the enemies re-spawning as the game went on. I felt like I didn't get too see some of the latter spells, interactions and mechanics (such as lives) used to their fullest potential because there was nothing else to experiment with them with that'd require enemies and similar to interact with it. This instead lead to the game to be pretty much a collect-a-thon of collectibles as they spawned, which isn't exactly a bad thing, but as you went through all the trouble to add all that flavor combat mechanics in, it'd have been nice to actually be able to experiment with them. Presentation wise, graphics and audio were also pretty great and eye/ear-catching with the most minor thing here and there being just the overall consistency of it, but since I'm not an artist, I'm probably not the most ideal person to tell you about it. Overall, for your first _Ludum Dare_ game it felt really nicely packaged and I thoroughly enjoyed it. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames) (~~adding that link here is kind of pointless since you all know me but for consistency sake~~), I am proud to finally see you guys survive your first _Ludum Dare_ and to release a game to the wild! I hope you enjoyed your overall experience, and I can only look forward for the stuff that you guys create next. Now if you guys would just release _Stacks for Good_ I'd be real amused. Thanks! π³ |
| Dec 23 04:16:02 | 239h 19m | $adist | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-23 03H10M58.png I did it! I crashed South Korea's economy! π° That should keep them out of eSports. This was a nice and surprising experience. The whole game's motif is certainly a very ironic one given how sadist the character is that he's willing to be a masochist as well to go through all of those different jobs just to satisfy his economy-crashing lust. That being said, it was certainly humorous on that aspect. The BTC inclusion was also a nice nod to all the current cryptocurrency events going on, blowing in value all of a sudden, and crashing on the very next moment. π± As expected, the mini-games are obviously the core focus of the game, and I have to say they had a very warioware-like vibe to them, especially with the tips where you have to perform the task under the time-limit. I found them enjoyable and fun to play, and even when I though I had played them all, I found myself playing new ones. As the game progressed, I would pretty much play a mini-game, go deposit some money and check on my BTC, and immediately go play another one. Presentation-wise, the graphics and music were also pretty appealing for a Compo game! Nothing out-there but comfortable enough to complement the overall experience. My only minor issue with the game is really just how repetitive it can get after a while, especially if you're constantly playing it. Once I crashed South Korea, I didn't go forward and play through Australia for that very much reason, since I had already experienced everything there was to see. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames) and of a certain _Polite Whale_, thank you for this sadistic job-working experience. Cheers! π³ |
| Dec 28 02:53:20 | 118h 37m | Lights Out! | ♥ 2 | 2017-12-28 02H34M27.png That was a nice and shortly-contained clever puzzle platformer, and despite the unfortunate and sad theming of having to destroy lava lamps that did absolutely nothing wrong, it featured several interesting ideas that make it a really clever entry. Mechanics and levels were really well thought, especially in the latter ones with the teleportation and lava-jumping lava lamps. The only mechanic that I felt didn't really connect much with me was the wall-jumping, as it felt irresponsible or too frame perfect at times. I personally think the design of the levels would have allowed for double-jumping to work without compromising the blue lava-lamp mechanic. Otherwise, the presentation was simplistic but direct to the point and I personally found myself comfortable with it. If anything, I'm slightly disappointed at the lack of any sound or music, but I'll look over that as I don't think I'd want to hear the breaking sounds of those poor lava lamps either. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames) ~~(got to plug it even if moski has already commented above)~~ allow me to say that you've made a very nice work and I honestly hope that you're able to reach the 20 ratings until tomorrow! Thank you! π³ |
| Dec 28 04:48:00 | 1h 54m | Loot Grabber | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-28 03H09M54.png That was a very interesting bullet hell experience! It was especially surprising to see multiple levels and the different types of enemies. Overall, it was a pretty solid twin-stick experience. I personally think the gameplay would have been a bit more comfortable if the camera was zoomed up just a little bit and the gameplay speed down a little. Most of the time, I felt enemies were spawning and attacking the player way faster than I had time to react and collect the loot dropped by the previously destroyed enemies. Having played with both a controller and mouse, I felt some slight lack of control over the shooting. Even if fired in the direction it was supposed too, it felt like the shooting was too precise, once again, to be able to wipe enough enemies in a zone and be able to collect the loot dropped by the previous ones. The presentation was also not too shabby and got the job done, although if there was one thing I'd like to point out, is that sometimes the pellets would blend in with the actual dropped loot. Once again, probably a result of the point I pointed previously. It'd also have been nicer to have the loot be just a tiny-itsy-bit bigger to make it easier to collect as well, as others have pointed out above. π° Despite the points I pointed out, I still enjoyed my time with it, and it was nice to play another game with controller support. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), congratulations on this experience and we hope to see more from you in the future! π³ |
| Dec 28 18:53:00 | 14h 05m | Forgotten Machines | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-28 17H35M52.png That was definitely a bullet-powered experience. First off all, It's nice to see another person tackle the theme as it getting worse _to the enemy_, and I think the whole upgrade-based gameplay transmitted that theme interpretation very clearly. It was endearing to see the number and spread of bullets increasing as I collected the different upgrades found on the crates and which enemies dropped, although I never really got to the exact same level of chaos as the gifs you included in the images in the description. π As others have mentioned though, the one thing that really felt off in regards to the gameplay was the camera controls. I felt that, both of the times I played, immediately after moving and attempting to aim, the machine became un-centred in regards to the camera, making it hard to see what exactly was in some of the sides of my surroundings. The low FOV also didn't help much in regards to this, and it would have been nice to have the camera just slightly a bit more zoomed out, especially with the previous issue present. The graphical presentation is overall one of the best aspects of the game and I really liked the whole pixel-art inspired texture and model work. However, sometimes I would get the particles/feedback, such as the cube collecting particle and the explosions stuck on screen. I don't know if it was intended effect (although I wouldn't think so) but it felt off to see them like that. Seeing the Unity default skybox and the completely off-style grass tiles at the edges of the map was also slightly immersion breaking. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), congratulations on making it through your first _Ludum Dare_ with such a action packed entry, even with all the points I mentioned previously! Being able to successfully going through one is just the first step to many other great ones, and we personally can't wait to see what you create next! Cheers! π³ |
| Dec 28 19:17:59 | 24m 59s | Santa's Factory | ♥ 0 | 2017-12-28 19H03M02.png Well, that was a very nice and comfortable little Christmas themes entry, to the point it slightly disappoints me that I am actually playing it after Christmas has gone by. π But regardless, I'll just take it in my mind that I helped saved _next year's_ Christmas already! I personally didn't find the gameplay to be that stressful, and I even found it a bit soothing. Picking gifts and throwing them into boxes (and sometimes hoping to be able to do it from the complete opposite side of the room) is a simple enough premise and in this game in particular it gets the point across. That being said, however, I did notice the difficulty slightly going up as I played, and it would have been nice if it continued in that trend. Perhaps a suggestion for the future would be to add an endless mode? I personally know I'd enjoy it. Presentation wise the game was also pretty appealing, although if there's one thing I have to point out that felt slightly off is how the gift container boxes had a realistic wood texture to them when everything else was flat shaded. I don't know if this was a designed decision to have the player be able to easily notice the containers regardless of their position in the room, but artistically speaking I think they would have looked fine even without the textures. The audio was also nice, although you started to notice the loop after a while. [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), thank you for this pleasant and enjoyable Christmas experience. It seems there were some few rough edges with the game at first, but it seems you guys worked them off. We look forward to see what you guys create next! Cheers! π³ |
| Dec 28 19:46:16 | 28m 17s | Trial of the Reaper | ♥ 1 | 2017-12-28 19H28M25.png Well, that's definitely going to make me ethically question myself for the next decade, as I've personally found myself enjoying this slashing experience a bit too much. π I'm personally glad that my boss found my work noteworthy enough to be considered a suitable reaper, however, I worry what will be the future of the people in the square-box world if the day job is anything as similar as the test. Likewise to others have commented (such as my team-mate @moski), I also didn't fell that the love/mercy meter had that much impact when it came to the gameplay. Since souls were abundant it was pretty easy to keep the combo and speed going and avoiding the meter effectively. In fact, at first I even thought that the meter worked the opposite way, making the gameplay harder the more I slashed away, but apparently not. I personally thinking its a design aspect that could be rethought if you ever plan to pick this up again after jam. π€ Presentation wise it gets the point across, although if I have to mention something that other people have also commented about is just how good the movement feels when paired with the camera. It felt really responsive, and must be one of the first instances I see of motion blur actually helping to convey an action rather than feel like an unnecessary image effect. Congratulations on that! [In behalf of our team](https://twitter.com/WhalesAndGames), thanks for making us feel like some sadistic monster reapers, but at the same time, thank you for the interesting experience. From what I see, you also have a very considerable back-catalogue of _Ludum Dare_ games which puts me wondering just what you're going to create next. Cheers and see you next time! π³ |
